Tampa Bay gutted out a point, playing a man down for the final two periods, before dropping a 3-2 shootout decision to Montreal on Thursday.
Mike Cammalleri had the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout while Carey Price stopped 35 shots and three of four shooters in the shootout. Tampa Bay is four points behind Washington for the lead in the Southeast Division, is two points behind Pittsburgh for the No. 4 seed while three points ahead of Montreal, which occupies the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Lightning were forced to play with 10 forwards for the two periods after captain Vinny Lecavalier was ejected from the game with 11 seconds left in the first period. After a fierce battle with Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban in front of the Canadiens' net that continued behind the net, the two slashed at each other as they came back around the front. But Lecavalier's was the more severe of the two as he slashed with two hands across Subban's thigh area, and he fell to the ice clutching his wrist.
If Subban was trying to sell the play, it worked as Subban remained down holding his wrists after Lecavalier was escorted to the penalty box. That's when Lecavalier was removed from penalty box and sent to the locker room for receiving a five-minute major and a game misconduct (which carries an automatic ejection).